Hamur tightened his cloak, his gaze sweeping past the camp and settling on the faint valley road leading deep into Gray Tooth Valley.
"Tomorrow..."
In the evening, the scouts returned to camp one after another.
Hamur did not personally meet them, only ordering them to report the intelligence to his apprentice and have it compiled into a document.
As night deepened, by the brazier, the elderly adjutant cleared his throat and began to read the brief:
"East branch road, traces of patrol activity, unknown numbers, but no fixed camp found."
"Mid-section branch road only has sporadic lights, sparse defenses, suspected temporary outposts, with irregular personnel movement."
"West branch road—complex terrain, messy arrangements, multiple suspicious shelters and open spaces exist, difficult to distinguish true from false."
"The Main Valley Road direction has three defensive lines, all located where the valley narrows, similar to our last visit."
"But the first defensive line appears to be unmanned, only a few simple wooden fences and watchtowers were seen, with no signs of defense."
"From a distance, the latter two defensive lines show faint signs of activity, and the defensive works are basically complete."
After the brief ended, the camp fell into a brief silence.
Several young officers exchanged glances, questions almost written on their faces: Was this undefended? Or a ruse?
Given the terrain here, even if the first defensive line fell, they could safely retreat to the rear.
Directly abandoning the first defensive line and retreating to the rear was truly illogical.
For a time, the entire camp fell into an unusual calm, like the dead silence before a blizzard, weighing heavily on everyone's hearts.
"The first defensive line is... empty?" a deputy general asked in a low voice, "Too strange."
No one responded.
For a moment, even the crackling sound of the brazier was clearly audible.
Hamur slowly rose, his cloak gently swaying behind him.
He gazed at the dark mountain pass in the distance, the light of the brazier illuminating the deep lines on his face, looking thoughtful.
Before he could speak, the priests and officers behind him had already begun to argue.
"The east branch road must be a trap!" an old priest with a hoarse voice declared decisively, "What patrol traces? Clearly a bait! They want to lure us into dividing our forces and getting stuck in that narrow east branch road, then trapping us like cornered beasts!"
"Not necessarily!" a young officer with sharp eyes immediately retorted, "The Main Valley Road has three defensive lines, why is the first one empty?"
"That's even more like a trap! A bluff, trying to scare us from taking the main road!"
"They are short on troops! They can only concentrate their strength on defending the latter two lines, so they simply abandoned the first one to save manpower!"
"I think the Main Valley Road is strong on the outside but weak on the inside!"
"What about the west branch road?" a third priest interjected with a frown, "Messy arrangements, difficult to distinguish true from false... This is the most troublesome. What if there are ambushes hidden inside, attacking from the flank...?"
"Impossible!" the old priest scoffed, "That wretched place, the west branch road, is difficult to even enter, how many people can they hide? Those shelters are mostly a ruse, just to buy time! Their main force must be on the latter two defensive lines of the Main Valley Road!"
"What about the middle branch road, High Priest?" a young priest looked at Hamur, "Sporadic lights, sparse defenses... Could it be the real weak point? Do they think we won't take the small path?"
The arguments buzzed around the brazier, each holding their own view, unable to convince the other.
The vague intelligence made every interpretation seem plausible, yet each carried risks.
"Enough," Hamur seemed to have finally completed his thoughts, his quiet voice instantly suppressing all the noise.
The debaters immediately fell silent, their gaze fixed on him.
"East branch road, activity, no camp—this means there are troops, but they are not holding a fixed position; they are highly mobile, suitable for quick reactions and ambushes. This is disadvantageous to our army."
Hamur then pointed towards the Main Valley Road: "The first defensive line is empty, the latter two are complete—this is clearly waiting for us to run into their impenetrable defenses behind."
"They want us to take the main road, or at least be misled by the empty defense line and hesitate to advance."
"They want to make us suspicious, afraid to touch the east branch road, or to waste all our attention on the Main Valley Road and that mess in the west."
Hamur's gaze swept over the silent crowd after the argument, finally settling on the valley entrance to the east, shrouded in the shadows of the pine forest.
His lips pressed into a cold, hard line, and he raised his head, a decisive cold glint flashing in his eyes: "Then we'll attack the east branch road!"
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